Tuesday, June 9, 2015

ARC Review: Crazy for the Competition by Cindi Madsen

Crazy for the Competition is a standalone story in Cindi Madsen's Hope Springs Series. Though the characters in each book are interconnected, it is not required that they be read in order to enjoy each story. While this book had some great moments, this one was just okay for me. I had a tough time relating to the heroine, but it was still a good light and easy read.

Quinn Sakata is working towards leaving her father's real-estate business and reopening the Mountain Ridge Bed and Breakfast. She is tired of trying to please her family and being the black sheep, only to never live up to their expectations. But in order to branch out on her own, she will have to out-bid the competition for the Mountain Ridge property. When she finds out that her high school crush Heath Brantley is the other bidder, she vows to do whatever it takes to be the winner. But when they are forced to work together to try and win the town's approval, Quinn and Heath grow close and soon they are both realizing that there is more to each other than they expected. Will Heath and Quinn do whatever it takes to beat the competition, or will they realize that there is more than just the property at stake?

I had a tough time with Quinn. Not that she wasn't an okay character, but I just didn't really have anything in common with her and didn't really ever feel like I was invested in her story. She was of Japanese descent and though she was Americanized, she still had a lot of traditional Japanese values. She wanted her family's approval and tended to do things in order to appease them, when it was clear that she wanted so much more out of life. That was a bit frustrating for me as I am pretty much the opposite. Though family approval and support is great, I also believe in going after your dreams and pursuing the life you want. Quinn did too, but she was pretty passive about it. Heath was easier for me to like. He was also very much a family man, but it was more in relation to his siblings rather than his father. He looked out for his little brother and would do whatever it took for him or his older brother. I felt like he and Quinn had a lot in common when it came to being loyal and how they felt connected to their families. I liked the connection that they found with each other as well, and it was good to see them get over their initial assumptions of one another.

Overall, this was a sweet and light clean romance. Though Quinn and Heath had chemistry, there wasn't much steam here as is common with Entangled's Bliss Imprint. If you are looking for something light and clean, this might be one that you want to check out. There were some really sweet and cute moments throughout this story, and I did enjoy it. For me personally though, I just wasn't really able to relate to Quinn and that kind of threw me off the whole story. I have really enjoyed books by Cindi Madsen in the past though, and I know I will read more from her in the future.